Aqua Alchemist
by Fading wind
Summary: There is a new State Alchemist who is only 10 years old! Ed is sent on a mission with this girl. He is about to learn of an astonishing truth. [RoyxEd] [RoyxRiza] [Spoilers] Last chapter up!
1. Chapter 1

**Aqua Alchemist / Ch. 1**

Edward walked into Mustang's office one day without knocking, not expecting anyone else to be there. What he saw shocked him.

Standing in the office was a girl. A girl with short, silvery white hair and eyes of the colour aqua blue. Her thin lips formed a straight line, and her face was entirely emotionless. Her blouse and pants were white and seemed to be made of silk, and over them she wore an aqua blue cloak made of some see-through material. She wore white gloves, similiar to the ones Ed wore, only they seemed to be made of a softer material. She wore a pair of white cloth shoes that looked like the shoes that professional dancers wore. She had a pale complexion and a slim figure. She was shorter than Edward, and looked much younger. This girl couldn't be more than thirteen years old, Edward thought. Overall, she looked stunningly beautiful, and if it wasn't for her blank face, she would have looked like an angel descended from the heavens.

"Oh, hello, Fullmetal," the Brigadier General greeted him.

"Mustang-junshou," he replied, not taking his eyes off the girl. "May I ask who this is?"

"Fullmetal, meet the Aqua Alchemist."

Ed gasped. So this girl was a State Alchemist! "How old is she?" he asked, not exactly looking forward to the answer.

"Ten. She has just passed the State Alchemist exam. Meaning that she has broke the record. Now she is the youngest person ever to pass the State Alchemist exam," Roy said with a smirk.

Ed frowned. Not that he really cared about the record, anyway. This girl must be a genius to pass at a young age, and he couldn't help feeling jealous. "What's your name?" he asked, directing the question at the girl this time, not wanting her to think that she was being ignored.

"Aquamarine," she replied curtly.

"Aquamarine? What sort of name is that?"

"I don't know. That's the name my parents gave me. Pleased to meet you, Fullmetal Alchemist. I've heard a lot about you," she said, not sounding at all pleased. Even her voice was void of emotions.

"What's your special alchemical ability? I'm guessing it has something to do with water."

"You will find out soon, for now, I will not tell."

"Now, enough small talk," Roy interrupted. "What were we talking about just then, Aqua?"

"The mission, sir."

"Ah, yes, the mission. So, would you two please go to Dahren? There are some serial killers on the loose there, and it's scaring everyone who lives there. I would like you two to go and arrest the serial killers and bring them back to Central to receive their sentence. Understand?"

"Dahren? Isn't that a small town quite near Xenotime?" Ed asked, remembering their journey to Xenotime a number of years ago.

"Yes, Fullmetal. Train tickets are ready. Depart at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. If everything is clear, you are dismissed, Aqua. Fullmetal, please stay behind for a while."

"Yes, sir." Aqua gave a salute and left.

"Now, Fullmetal. It's time you settle down, really," Roy said, turning to face Ed directly.

"Settle down? Me? No, never," Ed said.

"Well, you're twenty-one already, Fullmetal. It's time for you to get married and have a family."

"You got married just months ago, and you're already thirty-five," Ed said with a snort.

"But you still haven't even started dating girls yet, Fullmetal. I started dating girls when I was fifteen."

"You're the flirty type, Mustang, I'm not."

"Aqua seems to be a nice person. She's beautiful, don't you think, Fullmetal?"

"She? She's totally emotionless! I can't imagine myself with someone like that, no matter how beautiful she is. Besides, I'm older than her by eleven years."

"Riza seemed to be emotionless at first too, but the closer you get to a person, the more you discover about her. As for her age, the older you two get, the less this age difference will seem. She's a good choice that is worth considering."

"I just don't want to settle down. I enjoy my life like this, I was born to be the type that wanders around forever." Ed paused. Then he added in a lower tone, "And anyway, I'm not really attracted to girls."

Roy looked a little surprised. "Not really attracted to girls? I should've guessed. Winry, Psiren and lots of other females you've known... You never showed any interest in any of them. Does that mean, though, by any chance, that you are attracted to males?"

"Well, maybe, I guess. I don't really know."

"Hmm... Fine then, you may leave, Fullmetal, unless there is anything else you wish to say to me?" Roy asked, as if expecting something.

Ed wanted to say something. But he just couldn't bring himself to do so. So he shook his head, saluted, and left the room.

He heard a sigh behind him, a disappointed sigh, and wondered if Roy, too, wanted to say the same to him.

_A/N: I've already written out all of this fic, it only has 6 chapters. I can't promise anything about a sequel though. I hope you will enjoy this fic. Please read & review!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Aqua Alchemist / Ch. 2**

Ed arrived at the train station minutes before departure and found that Aqua was already on board the train. She said a quick good morning and he replied her. She then remained silently for the rest of the trip. Ed said nothing either. He did not approve of Aqua's attitude. It was even worse than Mustang's. At least Roy spoke. Okay, so what he said was often to tease Ed, but he spoke. Aqua was too quiet. And when she spoke it was usually in a haughty tone. Ed could not bear the silence, but he found it hard to say anything. Before, he always had Al. Al would play cards with him and they would talk about many things. About alchemy, about the Philosopher's Stone, about Mustang, about Winry, about their future, and sometimes, about their lost family. Now, Al no longer travelled with him. He stayed at Rizenbul with Winry. They were going to marry soon, and Ed was happy for him. Al told Ed to settle down too, but Ed refused. He was the travelling type. He had never thought that travelling and going on missions would actually be fun when he left home at the age of eleven. Ten years on, he now enjoyed travelling a lot, and perhaps, you could even say he was addicted to it. After each mission, he felt restless, eager to go on the next one. Other people would have liked a nice holiday, but he felt that all this travelling was already a holiday to him, it was pleasant to visit new places and meet new people. He was a born traveller.

Finally, after two hours on the train and in complete silence, the train pulled in at Dahren. Ed and Aqua alighted and walked into the town. It seemed to be deserted. There was no one in sight. Even the main street was clear of people.

"Where's everyone gone?" Ed asked.

"I expect they have locked themselves up in their homes. That's the way people usually react when there are serial killers in town. They think that the serial killers couldn't get them when they are in their houses. It never works. Serial killers aren't that stupid." Ed was surprised. This was so far the longest speech he had heard from Aqua. The same haughtiness was in her voice, but there was something else too... Something Ed could not make out.

"Then what do we do?" Ed wondered. "I don't think we can just knock on their doors and ask them about the serial killers, can we?"

"Of course we can. Why not?" Aqua walked up to the door of the nearest house and knocked bravely. A middle-aged woman with dark hair answered the door.

"My name is Aquamarine, and this is my companion, Edward. We are looking for a place to have lunch at, but it seems that the resturants around here are all closed. There are no one on the streets in this town. Today is not a holiday, so it must be something else. May I ask what is the matter?" Aqua asked. Ed noticed how much her tone changed. It became slick and polite. He also noticed how she used the word 'companion' instead of 'friend'.

"Oh, you must be tourists. But, really, Dahren isn't such a good tourist spot. Haven't you heard about the serial killers in this town?" said the woman. She looked pale and frightened, and when she spoke, she kept looking around, as if the serial killers were waiting to get her at any moment.

"No, we haven't! Is it a serious matter?" Aqua pretended to be afraid.

"Oh, yes. Already five of us has been murdered. It's terrible. I suggest you leave this town at once, while you still have a chance."

"Does anyone know where the serial killers are?"

"We think they are hiding in the woods."

"Can we come in?"

The woman looked uncertain. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't let you kids wander around. It's dangerous." She stood aside to let Ed and Aqua enter the house.

"I am not a kid," Ed hissed under his breath, so that no one could hear him. He had only grown a few centimetres since he was sixteen, so it was still easy for people to mistake him for a younger age. He had learnt to control his temper though.

They walked into the house and the woman closed the door behind them and locked it. "What would you two like for lunch? I'm going to prepare lunch in half an hour."

Ed was just about to list out his favourite dishes, when Aqua started to speak. "Anything is fine," she said. "Also, do you mind if we go out for a few hours after lunch?"

The woman looked terrified. "No, you can't go out there! You're putting yourselves in danger."

"I promise that we are going to be very careful," Aqua tried to say in a reassuring tone.

The woman was firm. She shook her head. "You either leave this town or stay indoors. It's the only way you two will be safe."

Aqua bit her lip and closed her eyes. Her hands curled into fists. "YOU PEOPLE ARE SO STUPID! THE SERIAL KILLERS CAN GET YOU EVEN IF YOU LOCK YOURSELVES UP! IT'S JUST LIKE DOING NOTHING AND WAITING FOR DEATH! GETTING OUT THERE AND DEFEND YOURSELF IS THE ONLY WAY YOU'LL HAVE A CHANCE OF STAYING ALIVE!" Her eyes flew open after this outburst and her tensed-up shoulders relaxed. She looked ashamed for a brief moment, then the look was gone and her face turned emotionless once more.

The woman was shocked by her behaviour. "I do not approve of people who come into my house and shout at me in such a disrespectful way," she said angrily. She gestured at the door. "Leave at once."

"Fine!" Aqua said, as if she did not care. "Fullmetal, let's leave," she said to Ed. Ed trudged behind her quietly, making no protest. He did not understand this girl, but he knew that she had a dark secret. A secret that was forcing her to become a different person from her original self. He understood the pain of keeping a dark secret. He once had to do the same himself.

_A/N: Hope that Ed wasn't out of character or anything. Please read & review!_

**Reviewer Responses**

**mmmslash - **I hope I won't disappoint you with the other chapters of this story... Thanks for the review!

**miroku-has-darkness - **It's not entirely RoyEd, as you can see. It's RoyRiza too. They're both my fave pairings. And I won't focus on romance much. The romance will disappear for the coming chapters until the last one, which will also be RoyEd + RoyRiza. If you still don't like it, then don't read.


	3. Chapter 3

**Aqua Alchemist / Ch. 3**

"So, let's go into the woods and see if we can find the serial killers," Aqua said.

Ed followed Aqua. They went into the woods. Aqua took off her gloves as they walked, and Ed caught a brief sight of two identical transmutation arrays, one on the back of each of her palms, just before she slipped her hands into the pockets of her pants. He did not ask Aqua about it. He knew that Aqua would have to use alchemy some time soon. He just have to look forward to it.

Aqua stopped. "Can you hear any voices?"

Ed listened intently and heard some gruffy voices. He nodded. Cautiously, the two made their way forward, and came to a clearing. There were some people sitting on boxes, and they did not look friendly. One reminded Ed of Kimbley, the other of Greed. Ed shivered at the memories of these two maniacs.

Ed counted six people there. Aqua told him to listen to what they say before acting. So they listened.

"It's my turn to kill someone," the one who looked like Greed said.

"Wait, isn't it mine?" A man whose back faced Ed and Aqua spoke.

"It's Chris's turn, Jerry," the one who looked like Kimbley said sharply.

The one who looked like Greed rolled his eyes. He must be Jerry. The man whose back faced Ed and Aqua stood up. He would be Chris. He seemed to be going to turn around.

"Now!" Aqua said in a commanding voice.

Ed clapped his hands together and transmuted a pike. The men took out their knives and guns. The one who looked like Kimbley slipped on a pair of gloves. Ed recognized those gloves at once. They were exactly like the ones Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist wore. The man snapped his fingers and instantly Ed and Aqua was surrounded by a ring of fire.

The man laughed coldly. "You two will die a slow, painful death. Let's leave, men." He turned to leave and all the other men followed him.

Ed panicked a little. He didn't remember how he could use alchemy to put out the fire. Aqua took her hands out of her pockets calmly. She placed her right palm on the back of her left one, in a way so that the array on the back of her right palm faced the ring of fire around them. Slowly, she slid away her right palm to reveal the array on the back of her left one. At that moment, a jet of water shot out of the array and it diminished the fire.

She dragged Ed after her as she ran after the serial killers who were making their escape. Ed started to attack the men with his pike, while Aqua dealt with the man who looked like Kimbley. The man tried to use his flames, but Aqua stopped him just in time, wetting his gloves with a spray of water. Then she quickly did another transmutation before the man could react, this time with more energy spent on it. The jet of water hit the man square on his forehead and the force was so great it knocked him out. Ed finished off the other men easily.

"What do we do now?" Ed asked. "I don't think us two can carry them back to Central on our own."

"We could ask the Brigadier General to bring more men in." Aqua said.

"Sure. And then we can listen to him say how he cannot spare any men just for some mere serial killers and talk about how _useful_ we are," Ed said sarcastically.

"I'm sure the Brigadier General won't do that. He _is_ a Brigadier General after all. He won't behave like that. He's pretty serious."

"You don't know him. I've been in his charge for almost ten years," Ed said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Aqua did not believe him. "At least let _me_ try. I bet he's only like that to you."

Ed gaped. Well, so maybe it was true, but...

"Stay here and look after the men while I go and find a phone to call the Brigadier General," Aqua said. She ran off. Ed took off the gloves of the man who looked like Kimbley and disarmed the other men. Then he transmuted a net and trapped the men inside it to make sure they couldn't escape. He leaned against a tree and waited for Aqua.

_A/N: OOCness in this chapter! I can see some OOCness. Actually, do you quite understand what Aqua did? I'm not sure I understand the description myself either. I'm rubbish at discribing this kind of stuff. I am still trying to figure out how to explain how Aqua manages to shoot water out of her palm. I also just discovered that I haven't done a disclaimer, but I'll just leave it. I do think everyone should know I don't own FMA, right? Please read & review!_

**Reviewer Responses**

**miroku-has-darkness - **I'm glad you like the story. Too bad you can't stand RoyEd. This story really don't involve much RoyEd though, as you can probably see now. You can avoid the last chapter if you like, because it is kinda optional. It only explains how Aqua manages to shoot water out of her palm, a thing I still haven't figured out yet. So, skip it if you don't want to read RoyEd.

**CrazyCreator33 - **Ed and Aqua do become friends in the end, but just friends. I'm afraid that in this chapter things happened a bit too quickly... I tried to change it, but it just didn't work. I don't know what you think though. Thanks for the review, and hope that you will continue to like this fic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Aqua Alchemist / Ch.4**

Aqua returned shortly after the men regained conciousness. Aqua eyed the men struggling in the net coldly. Then she turned to Ed.

"I've phoned the Brigadier General. He told me that he would send Major Armstrong and several other military guys to pick these serial killers up. They'd arrive at around two o'clock," Aqua reported.

"Good. I'd like to go into the town and tell the townspeople that the serial killers are captured," Ed said. "Guard them when I'm away."

"Yes, Fullmetal."

"Edward or Ed is fine," Ed said. He did not like being addressed as Fullmetal. It was bad enough for Mustang to keep calling him Fullmetal, with the excuse being that he forgot Ed's name. Now here comes a girl who was younger than him by eleven years calling him Fullmetal too. He was sure that both Mustang and Aqua remembered his name. For Mustang, he just liked to taunt him about being a dog of the military. As for Aqua, it was apparent she did not want to be friendly to him. The tone in which she spoke to him made that apparent.

What she replied surprised him. "Okay, Ed." Ed did not really think she would be willing to call him that. And the tone she replied in was also different. It was no longer that hostile, unwelcoming tone. It was more friendly and cheerful. Ed secretly congratulated himself for his success in managing to break down the wall between them, even if only a little. He sensed that she still had more to tell, and he still to work harder if he was to destroy that wall completely.

Ed walked away into the town. He knocked on the doors of different houses and announced the news to the residents. Some of them were relieved, some of them refused to believe him. He did not tell them who captured the serial killers, for he knew that most people would find him and Aqua, two young tourists who were seemingly unarmed, capturing the six armed serial killers unlikely. When the news had finally spread through the whole town and reached the ears of everyone, he returned to the woods and waited with Aqua for the military personnel.

X X X

At two o'clock, Ed left for the train station to meet Armstrong and the others. They arrived at about a quarter past two. Armstrong greeted Edward in his usual manner.

"Edward Elric!" he shouted in his deep, strong voice and hugged Ed so tightly that he could not breathe. Ed was so glad when Armstrong released him, and he sucked in air gratefully.

They went into the woods and, after a bit of a struggle, carried the net, along with all the yelling, kicking men, to the train station. Armstrong told Ed that tickets had already been purchased. They were going to return to Central on the four o'clock train. Ed sat down on a bench and took a nap. Aqua sat down next to him and gazed off into the distance. She did not sleep, nor did she do anything else. She just sat there, and her mind wandered off to things that no one knew about.

Armstrong tried to talk to her about his family, but he soon saw that she was not paying any attention to him at all, and gave up. Instead, those poor military guys had to listen to him. They had already had enough of him on the last trip, and now he was starting it all over again.

The train arrived, and Ed was woken by Aqua. They boarded the train. Armstrong continued to talk about his family. His speech was endless, so it seemed. He always had something to tell. The military guys were not the least bit interested, but they just had to listen.

"Aqua... You're not an Amestrian, are you?" he plucked up the couraged to ask. He feared that Aqua was not ready to answer this question yet, and if that was the case, all his past efforts would be wasted.

Aqua's eyes opened wide at the question. Ed was afraid that Aqua was not going to answer, but she did.

Ed never expected her to have such an extraordinary story to tell.

_A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter than the others. The next one will have a really really long paragraph telling Aqua's story, and it might bore you. XD_

**Reviewer Responses**

**Mukies - **Glad you think it's cool! (Um, is that what you mean? Because you typed 'col'. XD) Can you actually imagine Aqua shooting water out of her palm? I do think that with my crappy description, no one would know what I mean. XD

**Pale-Darkness - **Thanks so much for the ideas! I'm going to use those ideas.


	5. Chapter 5

**Aqua Alchemist / Ch. 5**

"You're right. I am not an Amestrian. I am an Aquarian." She pronounced 'Aquarian' delicately, as if it was a very important word.

"Aquarian? I've never heard of such people," Ed said, puzzled.

"Of course you haven't. I believe I'm the only one left of my people. That's why my parents gave me the name Aquamarine. They did it in honour of our people," Aqua explained.

"The only one? What happened to your people? And your parents?" Ed inquired.

"It had something to do with your father." Aqua said mysteriously.

"My father? Hohenheim of Light?" Ed gasped. What did this have to do with his father?

"Yes, Hohenheim Elric."

Aqua launched into her speech, and Ed did not interrupt her once.

"All Aquarians have silvery, white hair and aqua blue eyes. They were warriors. They loved fighting. Most of them were obsessed with fighting. My people were never peace-loving, and they started a lot of wars. One of them was with your country, Amestris. Me people were not wise to choose to wage war with your country. You had alchemy, my people did not. At first, my people seemed to be on the winning side when your country only let the ordinary soldiers fight, because my people were born warriors with great talent in fighting. But then, your country brought out the State Alchemists, and it turned into a massacre, just like the one with the Ishbalans. But my people were more lucky than the Ishbalans, about a thousand of them survived the massacre. They never knew there was another disaster to arrive that would very nearly wipe out all of them. The disaster was brought on by your dear father, Hohenheim, and his lover, a woman called Dante, if I'm not mistaken. They planned to create the Philosopher's Stone, and very unfortunately, they decided to use my people as the ingredients. My people knew nothing of their plan, if they had they would have been able to stop it. None of them learnt alchemy, and they did not realize that it was a transmutation array being made on their land. One night, when they were in deep slumber, Hohenheim and Dante performed the transmutation. Few of my people managed to live through the transmutation. Those who lived were terribly wounded. There were only about twenty of them left after the transmutation, that was what my parents told me. Among them were my ancestors, of course, or I would never have existed. Because most of the survivors were in such a bad condition, they died soon after. My ancestors seemed to be the only ones who managed to live on for quite some time, and they had children. Their children married each other and had children, even though it was against the Aquarian laws for one to marry one's siblings, they did not care about the laws any more, because they were the only Aquarians left. This cycle went on for quite some time until my parents."

She paused for a while to catch her breath. Then she continued her story.

"I am the only child of my parents. My mother was pregnant before she died, but she never gave birth to the child. We lived in a small town in Amestris. Then one day, when I was seven years old, serial killers appeared in the town. The townspeople acted just like the townspeople in Dahren. They locked themselves up in their houses. How foolish of them. Even my parents did so. The fighting spirit of my people had died down after their downfall. I tried to tell my parents that it was useless. They wouldn't listen. I wanted to leave the house, but they would not let me. So at night, I climbed out of my bedroom window when my parents were asleep. I ran and walked all night, and at dawn I came to the next town. I was exhausted when I reached there and I fainted. When I woke up, I was in the house of some kindly woman who had taken me in. I asked her about the serial killers, and she told me that I was safe in that town, there were no serial killers there, and it seemed unlikely for the serial killers to go to that town any time soon. After a few weeks, news arrived that the serial killers had been arrested. The woman, whose name was Camilla, took me to my town, and I discovered that my parents had been killed. I asked several people about it, and they confirmed that my parents were killed on the night that I left. I had made a narrow escape. Camilla offered to let me live at her home. I found out that she knew alchemy, and I was interested in learning, so she taught me. She said I had talent. She treated me like her daughter. She was very fond of children, but she had none. She was not even married. She cared for me a lot, but no one could ever replace my parents. The way they loved me was just different. It cannot be replaced by anything. When I was ten, I decided to leave for Central to become a State Alchemist, because if I had talent, I needed to use it. And so, you see, that is how I came to be a State Alchemist."

Ed stared. He found her story so unbelievable, but yet he could tell, she was telling the truth. Now he understood her outburst. She just did not want anything bad to happen to the woman, after what had happened to her parents. She knew the woman meant good. He realized that the tone he could not make out earlier was sadness. Grief over her parents' death, grief over the foolishness of humans. He particularly found the part about his father and Dante using Aquarians to make the Philosopher's Stone hard to believe. It was his father who had done it. Nearly wiped out a whole race of people.

"Do you believe me, Ed? You don't need to believe if you don't want to," Aqua said softly.

"Of course I believe you, Aqua," Ed said. The truth had been cruel, but truth always was. He had learnt to accept and face truth, no matter how cruel, during these years.

"You don't need to call me Aqua anymore. Now that you know of my story. You're the first person I've told it to. Call me Mari. It's short for Marine. It's what Camilla called me."

_So, maybe the wall is finally broken down... _Ed thought triumphantly. He smiled at Aqua. She seemed to be an entirely different person now.

"Yes, Mari," he replied happily.

_A/N: Is Aqua's story ridiculous? My friends at school all said it is. I don't know what you think. Did I bore you with her story? I hope not. The next chapter's gonna be the last one... Sad? n.n Skip it if you don't want too much RoyEdness._

**Reviewer Responses**

**CrazyCreator33 - **I've found a way to explain! Yay! Thanks to Pale-Darkness for submitting her ideas. Thanks for the review.

**EdUlrich18 - **Wow, I'm a good inspiration? That's good. I like to know that my work can inspire others to write even better fics. Thanks for the review.

**jalapeno1011 - **Oh, yes, she's quite smart. Glad to know that you think my story is good. I'll try to keep up the good work.

**miroku-has-darkness - **Here's the update that you wanted! Didn't take too long to update, did I?


	6. Chapter 6

**Aqua Alchemist / Ch. 6**

The serial killers were sentenced to death.

"That's justice," Mari said.

She was the one who wrote the report to the Brigadier General. Ed was so glad he did not have to write it. Writing the report only meant Mustang teasing him about his 'most wonderful handwriting which is totally impossible to read' and telling him that he should 'at least try his best and write proper words instead of drawing illegible symbols'. Mari's handwriting was beautiful and neat. Her writing speed was very fast too. When she handed in the report, the Brigadier General had commented that her handwriting was like 'the works of a beautiful angel from the heavens'. Ed did not see how her writing had to do with a 'beauitful angel', but he had to admit that Mari's handwriting was better than his. Even if that was so, his writing was definitely not 'totally impossible to read' and they were not 'illegible symbols'.

"Mustang, do you know how that Kimbley-guy obtained a copy of your gloves? Aren't they supposed to be specially made for you only?" Ed asked.

"The person from whom I got them swore that he would not give anyone else the design. I doubt that he would have given the design to those people, considering that if I found out I would most certainly burn him alive. I'll send someone to further investigate this." He paused, then he asked Ed a question.

"So, Fullmetal, did you find out about Aqua's alchemical ability?"

"She can shoot water from the back of her palm, but how she does it I'm not really sure," Ed said wearily, hoping that Mustang would not tease him for not knowing how it worked.

Mari explained it for him though. "I can condense the water in the humid air around me into liquid form and adjust the force to be great enough to knock out a person, as you have seen with George." The 'Kimbley-guy', as Ed liked to call him, turned out to be a man called George.

"Oh, I see," Ed said. "That's very useful. Are the arrays tattooed onto the back of your palms?"

"No," Mari said, grinning. "I am too much of a coward to get tattoos. I drew it on with non-washable felt pen. Camilla always teased me about it. She has tattoos herself."

Mari was dismissed, while Ed was once more asked to stay behind.

"So, what is it this time, Mustang?" he asked impatiently.

"I was wondering if you were getting along well with Aqua," Mustang said, the smirk never fading from his face. "She certainly seemed to have changed a lot. Is it your influence, Fullmetal?"

"You can say we're becoming friends," Ed said slowly. "But that's pretty much it." There was a brief pause. "She has a horrible past. I bet you already know of it, don't you, Mustang?"

"Well, Fullmetal, I'm resourceful. What do you expect?" Ed wished he could somehow wipe that smirk off Mustang's face, but at that moment it seemed entirely impossible.

"So, can I leave now?" he asked, stifling a yawn, feeling very sleepy all at once.

"Yes, Fullmetal, you may leave. If there is nothing else you wish to say, that is, of course." He looked at Ed with that piercing gaze, which Ed thought was even more sharp than that when Roy had two eyes. Ed squirmed a little, feeling uneasy.

The words he had always wanted to say were at the edge of his lips, but he swallowed them back. "Um... No?" he said, hesitantly.

Roy's gaze lingered on him for a while more, than it shifted and observed the wall. Ed muttered a hurried goodbye, sir, and left the room.

Ed could hear the familiar sigh coming from Roy. He smiled sadly, knowing that Roy shared the same dreams with him, dreams that could never come true. He tried desperately to get rid of these thoughts and his pace hastened to a running speed. He ran all the way home, away from the place where he would only get more of those bothersome thoughts. He should not think any more of it.

After all, Roy was married already. Married to a person that he did love.

It was painful to love two people. Especially if one of them was of the same gender as yourself.

_A/N: 'I drew it on with non-washable felt pen.' XDDD I don't even know if such things existed in Ed's time, but anyway, let's pretend they do. XD In case, you still don't get it, Roy is married to Riza. I never mentioned that he is married to Riza in this fic, but I did give lots of hints. I think you should already have realized that in the first chapter. So yeah, RoyEd and RoyRiza. I can't bear to do just one of these pairings. I love them both so much. And yeah, that's right, this is the final chapter of this story. If I get any inspiration, maybe I'll do a sequel. Just maybe. Can't promise. I hope you all liked my fic and please read & review!_


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